Laura Young

The Courant American

Cartersville, Georgia

September 13, 1900, page 1

Transcribed by:

Died From Wound.
Laura Young, Colored, Accidentally Shot by George Davis.

Laura Young, a colored girl about 22 years of age, died Saturday from a terrible wound received in the arm. Last Tuesday afternoon George Davis, a colored man, went to the home where Laura lived with her brother and grandmother, and asked the loan of a shot gun to go squirrel hunting. The request was granted and Davis was told where to find the gun in another room. Picking up the weapon, he asked if it were loaded, and Laura, who was in the other room said it was not. There was no cap on the tube and Davis drew the hammer back and snapped the gun. Laura Young had just opened the door to step in the room. The gun was loaded. There was a loud report. She received the charge in her arm. The charge was squirrel shot and made a terrible wound. The flesh was mangled, one bone of the arm was splintered, the other fractured and an artery in the forearm was severed. The wound bled profusely and those at the house corded up the arm and partially stopped the flow. Dr. Buford Greene was called afterwards and removing the particles of bone and carefully dressing the wound, tried to save the arm. The wound did well for while, but it was so violent and the blood supply so badly interfered with that gangrene set up Friday night. Saturday morning, after consultation, it was decided to amputate the wounded arm. The system had absorbed so much poison the heart became depressed and death resulted from the shock.

The dead girl was a sister of E. Young, who runs a fruit and soda water stand on Erwin street, and was very popular among those of her race.